"Dialogue with the community, including discussion of the full impact of the project and sharing of assessment studies, are a few of the basic practices of a business model based on sustainable development," says Julia Nelson of Business for Social Responsibility, a U. S.-based consultancy firm that advises companies, including the world's largest iron ore miner Vale, on CSR.

In promoting a brand image based on global understanding, BNP is adopting a similar strategy to U. K.-based HSBC Holdings, which launched its highly successful "World's Local Bank" campaign several years ago.

Investors 'paper losses on U.S. stocks now total $8.4 trillion since the market peak one year ago, based on the value of the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which includes almost all U. S.-based companies.

In all, U.S. stocks lost about $700 billion in market value on Wednesday, and $1.1 trillion for the week's first three days, based on the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index, which includes almost all U. S.-based companies.